1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to application execution technology for mobile devices and, more particularly, to a method and apparatus for enabling an external device to execute an application installed in a mobile device when the external device is connected to the mobile device through a serial port.
2. Description of the Related Art
Typically, when a mobile device is connected to an external device through a Universal Serial Bus (USB) serial port, device permission for the mobile device is granted according to an application installed in the mobile device. More specifically, such an application has exclusive device permission, and all communicated data is processed directly by the application. Therefore, an external device cannot execute or control any application installed in the mobile device.
Meanwhile, a mobile device (e.g., a mobile phone, a Portable Multimedia Player (PMP), etc.) has a limited amount of space for mounting its components. To overcome such limitations, the mobile device may integrate various interfaces, such as an external storage device, a modem, and/or a serial port, with a single USB connection. However, in case of such interfaces, when an Operating System (OS) or any other applications installed in the mobile device are executed, such applications have exclusive authority for connections with external devices. Therefore, the external device does not have authority to execute or control any application installed in the mobile device.